Bullying 2.0: Coping

Coping with cyberbullying

This study was done in Melbourne with about 600 schoolkids from government and independent schools. The authors gathered data on the frequency and characteristics of bullying they experience and what kinds of coping strategies students were using. They noticed differences in the prevalence of cyberbullying across gender and type of school.

The authors distinguish between active coping strategies like problem-solving and less ones, like distraction. (47)

Predictably, “Girls reported greater use of coping actions relating to seeking social support …and self-blame. In contrast, boys tended to use more coping actions that involved working hard to solve the concern, relaxing diversions, and physical activity” (50). It sounds like the gender patterns we see elsewhere. The authors also observed that the girls in independent schools (so, with a higher average household income and more access to ICTs) were the group with the highest reported cyberbullying victimization (53). But the other interesting thing about the gender divide that the authors point out is that, “For girls especially, the use of these technologies is likely to represent a central part of their social being, an important tool for friendships and peer group inclusion, and one that subsequently increases their likelihood of experiencing cyber-bullying problems.” (53) They cite research that shows girls talk more on their mobile phones and send more text messages than boys.

So I’d like to do further research into the experiences of girls with cyberbullying, and how it works in terms of the dynamics of social interaction among girls. Is there overlap between the perpetrators and victims of cyberbullying among girls, as there is among other groups who’ve been studied? How are girls being affected emotionally by cyberbullying? If ICT’s are so important to girls because of their tendency to be highly social, are the stakes even higher for them? How do the rates of cyberbullying-related suicide compare between boys and girls, for example? If we know a group of students is (even slightly) more vulnerable, don’t we have an obligation to target them with extra research and support?

The authors found that, “In general, an optimistic, relaxed, and active mode of coping tended to exemplify students in the current study who reported fewer cyber-bullying experiences” (54). This links with the Positive Psychology I’ve been reading in PPLE, by Martin Seligman. The big idea there is that building strengths is the best buffer against psychopathology. So we need to build our students’ emotional assets, accentuate the positive, and help them avoid getting caught in the cyberbullying cycle.

The authors propose developing in students “a specific coping skill set” to deal with cyberbullying:

• evaluate the benefits of remaining in or leaving online communities;

• identify the need to leave online situations;

• reflect on his or her own online behaviours;

• respond in an assertive, but not aggressive way; and

• know when and how to seek help from an adult.

                                                                        (55)

How practical! I want to make that a poster and hang it in my classroom.

References:

Lodge, J and Frydenberg, E. (2007). Cyber-Bullying in Australian Schools: Profiles of Adolescent Coping and Insights for School Practitioners. In The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist Volume 24 Number 1, pp. 45–58. Retrieved 14-3-11 at:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=frydenberg+cyberbullying&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0,5&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positve therapy. In, Snyder, C.R. & Lopez, S.J. Handbook of positive psychology. p. 3-9.